Live-Blogging Lost 5.12 Dead is Dead April 9, 2009

8:59 – Previously on Lost, in 1977, Sayid went & shot some poor kid, who happens to be destined to grow up to be a sociopathic murderer. Kate, Juliet & Sawyer pass him off to Richard Alpert & the Others, who say that Ben won’t remember this. In season 4, Ben’s daughter Alex was killed. And, in 2008, Sun conked Present Ben on the head before heading off to the main Island with Frank. And Ben wakes up to a very much alive Locke. He kind of looks like he wants to throw up.

9:00 – Some dude arrives at a campsite. Richard is there. It’s Othersville, circa 1977. The dude is extremely pissed about Richard bringing lil’ hurt Ben to the camp. Richard said Jacob wanted it & the dude simmers down. He goes into the camp & looks at poor, unconscious lil’ Ben. Ben wakes up & asks what happened. He tells the guy that he doesn’t want to go back to his dad & Dharma-ville. The guy says that just because they send him back, doesn’t mean he can’t be one of “them.” The man tells him his name is Charles. Widmore!

9:03 – In 2008, Locke wakes an injured Ben up. Ben is stunned to see Locke all reincarnated. He tells Locke he was going back to the main Island to answer for what he did, for breaking the rules. He was going to be judged. By…the Monster! Exxxxcellent, thinks Locke.

9:04 – Floating creepy title text of doom.

9:07 – Back on the beach. It’s 2008. Ben finds Ilana working on moving some debris. He goes over to get some water & Caesar comes up & asks about that whole thing where Locke said he killed him. Ben’s like, um, he’s totally alive. Then he manipulates Caesar a little, suggesting that Locke is a native & a crazy person. Well, partial credit, I suppose. Caesar shows him his rifle & says he’s got his back. Again, it’s not Sawyer & Juliet, so it’s not cute.

9:10 – Indeterminate time period, Ben’s got long, awkward looking hair, which I think is to suggest that he’s younger. He’s with a blonde kid, at night, hiding in the brush. He tells the kid to keep quiet & goes onto the beach, where there’s a campsite. He goes in & young Rousseau is there. She wakes up & freaks out & Ben picks up the baby who we know is Alex. Rousseau whines & whines about, you can’t do that this & don’t take my baby that, but Ben just tells her to shut it & be grateful to be alive. And if she wishes to remain that way, when she hears whispers in the woods, she should run the other way. What whispers, Ben?? What whispers? Also, who are you, blonde kid?

9:12 – Back to 2008. Ben is inside a station, searching through a desk. He finds a picture of himself & Alex, laughing & happy. Locke finds him & Ben quickly puts it away. They are in Ben’s old office. Locke’s like, never pictured you for the white collar type. He wonders if Ben might have time to chat about that thing where Ben killed him & staged it as a suicide. Ben says it was the only way to get the O6 & him back the Island. He couldn’t let Locke just do it himself because he didn’t know critical information (probably the stuff about Mrs Hawking), and then, after he found it out, it was easier just to kill him, rather than talk him into killing himself again. Locke’s surprisingly cool with it. All he really wants is to get a front row seat to that show Ben was talking about. The one where he gets eaten by Smokey.

9:15 – Ben & Locke uncover the canoes. Caesar wants to know where the hell they think they’re going. Ben pretends Locke is forcing him to go with him to the main Island. Caesar says that’s totally uncool & goes to grab the gun when Locke insists. Only, Ben has the gun. How the hell did Caesar not notice Ben taking that giant rifle away from him? Ben shoots Caesar in the chest! Dude. What was the point of Caesar? Can you wait to go to the Island & go shoot Ilana too?

9:20 – Ben & Locke paddle to the Island. They arrive during the day, which is a vast improvement, creepy-wise, to when Sun & Frank docked. Ben explains that Sun clocked him over the head & her & Frank are already here. Locke makes sarcastic remarks about Ben’s arm injury (that Ben tells him was not caused by Sun) & then surmises that they are going to Ben’s house, since that’s the only place he can summon the Monster. Locke remarks that he doesn’t think that Ben is seeking judgment for breaking the rules & coming back to the Island. He’s seeking judgment for the death of his daughter. Oooooh, snap!

9:21 – PS: When’d Locke get all smart like? Is the whole being-dead-for-several-days thing a major mental booster? Maybe I should have tried that before my GMATs.

9:22 – Back with younger Ben & blonde kid, they arrive back at the campsite with Alex. Charles Widmore is there, looking older & closer to the Widmore we know. He’s not pleased that Ben & the kid didn’t kill Rousseau & not only that, they brought a baby back! I can see how those are two completely different results. Ben fights with him over whether to kill the baby, but in the end, Widmore just walks away. Ben looks at Alex lovingly. Or maybe confusedly. Hard to tell.

9:24 – 2008. Abandoned New Otherton. It’s now night, so yes, it’s really creepy again. There’s a sound cue of creepiness & they see a light in Ben’s old house. Actually….where Alex’s room used to be. Locke encourages Ben to go check it out & Ben goes, alone. Inside, he opens Alex’s door & finds…Sun! They scare each other to death. Frank also comes in & they all look at each other, confused. Frank shows Ben the picture with Dharma Class of ’77. Ben is genuinely surprised. Frank & Sun explain that “Christian” gave them the picture & said if they wanted to see Jin again, they should wait in the house for John Locke. But since John Locke is dead, says Lapidus, they’re out of luck. Ben goes, oh, actually, this is the one time I can give you what you want. Frank & Sun look outside, where Locke is there. He waves at them happily. Heh.

9:31 – Locke has come inside the house. Completely weirded out, Frank tells Sun she should come with him & they should leave & see if they can fix the radio & get the hell out of this crazy place where dead people are walking around waving. He’s going with or without her, but Locke says if she goes, she’ll never find Jin. So, Frank leaves by himself. Aw. Bye, Frank. Sun’s like, so? What about my husband? Locke’s like, not yet, missy. Ben’s gotta go call Smokey first. If I were Sun, I’d be like, nuh uh! You best let go of that dream & get my husband in front of me, like, last week, friend!

9:32 – But she just stands there & Ben goes & opens the secret room. He goes in & climbs through a tunnel & goes into a cave, where there is a puddle of water. He reaches his hand in &…pulls a plug? Weird. All the water drains & Ben tells…whatever that is, that he’ll be outside. Ben smiles at the muddy hole. So confused!

9:34 – With younger Ben & what is now a 5 or 6-year-old Alex on the swing set at Dharma-ville. Must be post-Purge. Richard comes over & tells Ben the sub is leaving. Ben goes & finds Widmore at the dock in handcuffs, about to get on the sub. Ben tells him he broke the rules, he had a child with an outsider, he made regular trip on & off the Island. Widmore says he has not right to take what’s his. Ben says he has every right. Widmore notes that if Alex was really meant to die, the Island will make sure she dies. He says one day, Ben will be in this position. Also, he calls him “boy,” which you know Ben hates.

9:36 – Back in 2008, still at night, Sun is sitting outside Ben’s house. Ben comes out & finds that Locke has left to do something. Sun is still hung up about that whole thing where Locke was dead & then he wasn’t. Ben tells her he didn’t know Locke could come back here & be alive again. Dead is dead. So the fact that Locke is alive…scares Ben. Seriously? That’s scary.

9:37 – Just then, there’s a noise & Ben tells Sun to go inside because he can’t control what comes out of the jungle. But it’s just Locke. Disappointed to hear that Smokey hasn’t yet eaten Ben, he says that they’ll just have to go to Smokey themselves. But Ben doesn’t know where Smokey is. That’s okay, Locke does. Whaaa?

9:42 – Still in 2008, Locke tells Sun that he’s freaked out about the being-alive thing too. He says he’s still the same dude though. Except for the part where he knows where Smokey is. Ben comes over & they get up to go.

9:43 – We go to the mainland, after Ben gets off the Island. Ben is by a dock & he calls Charles Widmore. He tells him he’s going back to the Island today, even though Widmore says the Island won’t let him. But! Before that! He’s going to kill Penny. Who is on a boat. Which Ben is standing right in front of. Widmore’s officially freaked, but Ben hangs up. Well, he did warn you.

9:45 – Back in 2008 on the Island, Ben & Locke quibble about how Locke knows what’s going on. Ben figures out it’s where the Others brought him when he was little to heal. We swing around & see what’s there…it’s the wall around the Temple. But Locke says they aren’t going into the Temple at all. They’re going under it. Whaaa? Again, how does Locke know?? Locke demands that Ben go first, so he looks at Sun & asks her for a favor. If she ever gets off the Island, he asks that she go to Desmond & tell him Ben’s sorry. For what? He’ll know. It better not be for Penny’s murder, or I’m going to be pissed!

9:47 – On the mainland, Ben marches up to the boat with his gun in his jacket. He’s about to pull the gun when Desmond arrives behind him. Ben whirls & shoots Desmond! OMG! Then he points the gun at Penny & Penny pleads that she has nothing to do with Widmore anymore. Then her son Charlie comes out & Penny yells at him to go back inside. This buys just enough of a pause for Desmond, who is not dead, THANK GOD, to tackle Ben from behind & punch him in the face like 14 times & throw him into the water, all bloody & beaten. Um, awesome.

9:53 – PS: Amber Tamblyn totally still looks like Joan of Arc, not a detective. But I’ll probably check out The Unusuals anyway.

9:53 – In 2008, Frank arrives back on the smaller island. A man runs up, yelling his name. He says that Ilana & a couple of other men found some guns & are saying they’re in charge now. Frank goes over & Ilana demands to know “what lies in the shadow of the statue.” Frank doesn’t know. Legitimately, doesn’t know, & Ilana clocks him with the gun. Dude! Not cool! Not Frank! As Franks stares up with blurry vision at her, Ilana tells the others to grab whoever’s left, tie Frank up & get going. Frank is going with them. See? This is why Ben should have stuck around & shot this chick.

9:55 – With Ben & Locke…where’s Sun? Ben tells Locke he was right about why he wants to be judged. He was responsible for Alex’s death. He tells Locke he can go the rest of the way alone. As he walks away, he falls through a weak place in the floor into another hallway. Locke goes to find something to get him out & Ben looks around. There are hieroglyphics everywhere. Ben goes over to the foot of some stairs & black smoke comes out of some vents & fills the room. It surrounds him & there’s electricity sparking around. Ben sees images from this episode & other moments with Alex, including his last moment with her, when he disowned her right before Keamy shoots her. Ben is anguished. The smoke suddenly recedes back into the vents & suddenly, Ben’s torch lights up.

9:58 – And Alex, a grown, beautiful Alex, is behind him. She calls him daddy. Ben tells her he’s so, so sorry, it’s all his fault. She knows. And suddenly, Alex grabs him by the collar, pushes him against a wall. She angrily tells him that she knows he’s planning on killing Locke again & she won’t let him. He better listen to what Locke says from now on, like or else! OR ELSE! Say it! Ben says it. And Alex goes.

10:01 – Next week on Lost, there are only three words you need to know: MILES. CENTRIC. EPISODE. Um. AWESOME.

10:24 – Hehe…watching The Unusuals while linking this post. They had me at the interrogation scene with Adam Goldberg & Harold Perinneau & the copy machine lie detector & the cooler with the dead cat. LOL.